Abstract This paper discusses the music and songs of the group "Heavenly", a twee pop band of the late eighties and nineties. It describes how twee pop is a form of soft-core punk rock and gives a brief history of the achievements of the band. It examines how the majority of songs on this album deal with relationships and life from the viewpoint of teenage girls by examining the lyrics to some of their songs.
From the Paper "The majority of songs on this album deal with relationships and life from the viewpoint of teenage girls, as written by Amelia Fletcher, the key vocalist and guitar player. The other members of the band included Cathy Rogers, vocals and keyboard, Pete Momtchiloff, guitar, Rob Pursy, bass, and Matthew Fletcher, drums. The song of focus, ?Hearts and Crosses,? deals with the problem of naivety in young girls due to the illusion of the media and the harm and confusion that can result in being unprepared for the dangers of the real world. In this case, the result is a rape by an exalted boyfriend."
Tags:album, relationships, girls, women, logos, music, pathos, pop, punk
Abstract This paper discusses how Bob Dylan has exerted a lasting influence on our culture and has altered our conception of what is possible within a popular song and particularly within its lyrics. It looks at how it is upon his sixties songs that his reputation rests and how throughout these songs he covered and developed a broad spectrum of themes, an important and reoccurring one being women. It explores the presentation of women in Dylan's early albums using a selection of songs which the author feels to be representative of each record.
From the Paper "Another side of Bob Dylan (1964) was his last solo album until the 1990s. With the exception of one song, none of the songs had any overtly political theme. The album marked a shift from the public Dylan to a more private and introspective Dylan. The songs on the album offer personal explorations of love and focus on the nature of relationships.
To Ramona is fundamentally a break-up song in which the singer reluctantly takes his leave of a girl ensnared by the opinions of her acquaintances. It expresses feelings in a direct manner, yet is softened by reaching a moving and mature resolution in which he comes to accept the inevitability of the change, while refusing to shut the door completely on any future possibility of reunion."
Abstract This a jazz review which discusses the new "Headhunter" album, "Return of the Headhunters", after almost twenty years since they became a group. It analyzes the elements of jazz that are used within the album, including approaches to improvisation, syncopation and bass runs.
From the Paper "The Headhunters album, Return of the Headhunters, is under Hancock Records of the pianist Herbie Hancock, he is also one of the executive producers. This is one of Hancock's old bands; he doesn?t make the list of band member but guests on some of the songs. The Headhunters were last together at the end of the 1970?s. This album was released in 1998 and continues with the group's tradition of jazz fusion and funk.
"Track one is Funk Hunter and includes Herbie Hancock and Patrice Rushen on keyboards, Darrell Smith on keyboard programming, and JK on guitar. The song is melodic with elements of cool jazz. Drums introduce and then continue with constant syncopated snare drum hits. The sax takes a theme and fades in and out between bass and drum patterns. Bass uses repeated runs. This first verse is replayed, with a stompy, prowling feeling. The keyboard goes into a syncopated developmental solo with percussion, bass, and snare accompaniment. The bass and keyboards go into a call and response routine. The theme is restated and a cow bell is heard between snare hits. Sax and keyboard then go into call and response play. The sax leaves and with the keyboard featured there is a restatement of the theme and a fade out."
Abstract This paper examines how the cost of releasing new commercial records is high and how once the public profile of an album in its primary release dies away, it often becomes uneconomical for the record label to maintain support for that release. It covers the main strategies used by record labels to generate income from back-catalogues and looks at topics such as compilation albums, re-issues and retail mechanisms.
From the Paper "The release of a "Greatest Hits" is not necessarily a gravestone marking the end of an artist's career and it is now likely that a greatest hits compilation may be superseded by a new album. There may even be multiple greatest hits released for one act; Madonna's "Immaculate Collection" topped the British album chart in December of 1990 but still managed to re-enter the chart in January of 2001, peaking at number 21. In November of the same year Madonna released her second greatest hits album ?GHV2: Greatest Hits Volume 2 ? The Best Songs of a Decade? which reached number 2."
Tags:album, business, commercial, mechanism, record
Abstract This paper examines the "Uhuru Africa" album by Randy Weston. Inspired by jazz legend Duke Ellington, Weston spent most of his career combining the rich music of the African continent with the African-American tradition of jazz. The author dissects Weston's "Africa" album -- which he calls a tribute to Ellington -- from its thematic and metaphoric perspectives, such as nature, animals, liberation, the past and the future. The author concludes by praising "Uhuru Africa" as Weston's jazz paean to Afro-American heritage and to Africa.
From the Paper "This style inspired Randy Weston, whose use of both hands separately on the keyboard parallels a drummer's control of separate rhythms with each hand. Randy Weston spent most of his career combining the rich music of the African continent with the African American tradition of jazz, mixing the rhythms and melodies of both continents. Uhuru Africa is a tribute to Ellington, most particularly in the second movement, African Lady, a metaphor for Africa and the drum, which Ellington identified with a woman."
Abstract The paper examines Bill Evans' life and career, musical influences, and a sampling of his compositions and performances that show strong cross-cultural elements. The paper analyzes three of his most cross-cultural albums; "Symbiosis", "Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra" and "From Left to Right". The paper concludes that more research should be done on this aspect of Evans' music, as knowing the cross-cultural influences can help us grasp the complexities and beauty of his style.
Outline:
Introduction
Bill Evans' Life and Early Career
Bill Evans' Cross-Cultural Influences
Three Cross-Cultural Albums Conclusions
From the Paper "Without question, Bill Evans is one of the greatest musicians of all time. He has been called a "poet of the piano" because of the incredible sensitivity and lyricism he brought to jazz piano playing, and also because of the complexity, richness, and sophistication he brought to jazz harmonies . During his twenty-five year career in the post-bop era, spanning from 1955-1980, he recorded over seventy albums, both as a sideman for other artists and as a leader of his own ensembles. Bill Evans' music touched fans from all over the world because he played on extensive concert tours, both within the United States and abroad. He also received accolades from critics and the public alike, winning the Down Beat Critic's Poll five times, six Grammy awards for his albums, the Melody Maker award in 1968, and Scandinavia's Edison Award and Japan's Swing Journal award in 1969."
Abstract This paper examines in-depth the popular essays of American writer Joan Didion in the collections, "Slouching toward Bethlehem" and "The White Album". It describes that Didion's essays are always focused on her point of view, not just in what she sees, but also her opinion. The paper analyses her writing style and illustrates that these essays are an excellent example of effective personal writing, which makes for interesting content.
Table of Contents:
Examples of the Essays of Joan Didion
The Writing Style of Joan Didion
The Value of Didion's Essays
Works Cited
From the Paper "Joan Didion is a writer best known for her essays. These essays were collected in two volumes, Slouching toward Bethlehem (1968) and The White Album (1979). Both of these established Didion as a successful essayist. While she also wrote novels, fiction and screenplays, it was always her essays that remained most popular. To consider this further, the essays of Didion will now be analyzed. This will begin with a look at several examples. Her writing style will then be considered. Finally, this will be concluded with a look at why her work is worth reading."
Tags: personal, writing, opinion, style, white, album, bethlehem
Abstract This paper discusses how Carole King is probably one of the most influential pop song writers of the late sixties and early seventies and how her second album "Tapestry" was and still is widely considered as her greatest collection of recordings. It looks at how, number one for 15 weeks in the charts, it is an astonishingly well written record in terms of the accuracy with which it fills its place in the pop genre and also the standard of production.
From the Paper "The middle-8 section can effectively be split into two distinct parts. In the first half, a chordal piano solo takes the lead role, playing over a static C minor vamp, whilst the guitar plays slightly emphasised rhythm phrases which add interest whilst importantly not drowning out the piano. The second half of the middle-8 is harmonically the same as the first four bars of the chorus. The guitar exchanges some jazzy lead phrases with the piano in this section, and a more active bassline and ride cymbal rhythm combine to pick up the momentum again. The middle-8 breaks down into the second verse in much the same way as the first chorus progresses into the first verse, with each part simplified to create space in the mix for the softer vocal."
Abstract This paper explains how the advertisement for "The Cruxshadows" and their album "Wishfire" is effective because of the attractiveness of the color scheme, the advertisement's identification of the band members with the music, and its overall visual appeal.
From the Paper "Advertising designers are presented with a particular challenge when the focus of the advertisement is an artistic product. Unlike those which are meant to sell food, household products, or even luxury items, ads that promote an artistic work like music must find a way to not only stick in the heads of viewers but also to be artistically pleasing and representative of the artistic vision of the creator of the featured piece. People who drink soda or buy shoes are not necessarily going to be swayed by the subtle visual intricacies of a Pepsi or Nike ad as long as there is a cultural or need-based appeal. If the consumer feels that Pepsi, for example, will quench thirst, then the ad was effective. However, in order for a music ad to be effective, it must find a way to appeal to the inner art critic and somehow present a visual representation of the appeal of the music, which may be considered an emotional or spiritual need, but remains outside the reach of the basic "food, clothing, and shelter" appeals. One advertisement that rather effectively promotes music is that for the band The Cruxshadows, for the album Wishfire, which appeared in Orkus music magazine in September, 2002."
Abstract This paper examines the ways in which the CD, "The Eminem Show", was created, packaged and released as a means of understanding the social and artistic context of the album.
From the Paper "Compact discs are so much a part of our everyday world that we rarely stop to think about the process of how they come into being. They appear to have sprung forth ready made like Athena being born in her armor from the head of Zeus. But of course CDs are made .."
Abstract This paper analyzes the various ways that Prince was made subservient to contractual demands by the major recording company, Warner Brothers. It discusses the extent of Prince's contractual obligations and examines how they virtually entrapped him into an epic decade long contract. The paper then looks at how this contract limited his ability to make profits off of his albums sales.
From the Paper "In conclusion, the record industry hegemony of Warner Brothers acted as an agent of corporate greed, which disallowed Prince to make the money he surely deserved. This type of corporate hegemony also forced Prince to sign long term record deals, which virtually enslaved the artist under restrictive and non-profitable conditions. This study also briefly shows the independent business side of Prince that provides the reasons why prince had chosen to reject the terms provided in his contracts. Furthermore, Prince would often be categorized as "black music", which was a part of the racist hegemony of the record companies to pigeonhole artists into narrow categories. Prince decided to resist and deny this type of limited identity, defining his rebellious role as a subservient artist beneath the corporate hegemony of Warner Brothers records."
Abstract This paper explains that research concludes that the louder an album is, the more it will initially appeal to the casual listener because louder music grabs people's attention and stands out among its quieter counterparts. The Loudness War, to capture the music purchaser, has been waged since the early 80s when the accessibility of music began to give listener's more choice than just listening to the radio or buying very expensive sound equipment. The author describes the process of creating sound for the recordings. The paper also relates the concerns of audiologists about the imminent generational hearing loss phenomenon related to iPods and their cohorts, earbuds. Color graphs are included with the paper.
From the Paper "Since the induction of the CD on the common market in 1982 and 1983, audiophiles have both scoffed at its distance from vinyl and come to appreciate that distance. With vinyl, there are physical limitations that dictate that there must be a compromise between volume, playing time, and surface noise. In order to increase the volume, deeper grooves must be cut, which leads to a danger of skipping and reduced space for more music. With a brand new, masterfully cut vinyl, you could get about 60 dBs (decibels), and once played a few times through, it would settle at about 50 dBs."
Abstract This paper describes the band Linkin Park, which started out as an edgy alternative rebel band successfully blending rap, traditional classic rock, and electronica. The writer provides a biography and an overview of their rise to fame and their albums prior to "Minutes to Midnight." The success of this latest album is due to their pursuit of a deeper level of musicality, collaboration, and mass appeal, which included using more instruments, such as acoustic guitars and banjos. The paper concludes that this new departure shows the artistic development of the band and that Linkin Park fans can look forward to a wide range of albums in the years to come.
Outline:
Linkin Park Biography
Why This CD Was So Successful
Reflection on the CD and the Group as a Whole
From the Paper "Like many LA bands, they began their rise through the positive response and crowds that they brought to their shows at the Whiskey on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Their status as local favorite did not immediately translate into a contract, because their sound was too new and different--a rock band with a DJ and a rapping lead singer. Zomba Music's Jeff Blue signed Linkin Park to Warner Bros. after the band had been turned down for contracts three times in late 1999. Their first album was called Hybrid Theory, released in fall 2000, when they found their niche by opening for fellow alternative acts such as the Deftones, the Roots, Aphex Twin, and Nine Inch Nails."
Abstract This paper reviews the band's third album, Raising Hell. It gives reasons why the album, and the band itself, is one of the all-time greatest. It talks about heavy rhyme sequences, vocal percussions, b-boy bravado and the band's crossover to mainstream audiences.
From the Paper "To me, Run DMC is one of the best hip hop groups. This trio is responsible for the sound and style of hip hop music in the 1980?s. They paved the way for everyone else in the hip-hop game. No hip-hop act received major radio or video play until Run DMC came about. This trio set standards for the next decade of hip-hop.
All three member of Run DMC are natives of middle-class New York, borough, Hollis, Queens. James Moore of All Music Guide states, "Run (Joseph Simmons) and DMC (Darryl McDaniel) formed a rap duo while in high school. After graduating from high school in 1982, the pair enlisted their friend, Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) to scratch turntables" (Moore 2)."
This paper explores the music of David Bowie, especially his character Ziggy Stardust, which was a reaction to the latter half of the 1960's British rock movement.
Abstract This paper explains that the concept album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" by David Bowie, the self-made man who is famous for his fleeting construction of personas, changed the way heavy metal, hard rock, punk music, glam rock and progressive rock sounded. The author points out that David Bowie's teenage wilderness years coincided with the gold-lame era of vintage rock 'n' roll, which reached England in the late 1950s in the form of American hip-swinging, lip-curling singers giving vent to youthful frustrations in a way seen as morally threatening such as Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog", Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" and Little Richard. The paper states that the album represented the archetypal rise and fall of the world of pop, which recently had experienced a sense of lost with the breakup of the Beatles and, with them, the cheery innocence of the 1960's; thereby, Ziggy became for many people the missing link between American punk and tight Beatle melodies.
From the Paper "Kenneth Pitt first entered Bowie's life when he made a suggestion to Bowie's manager that there were already too many Joneses in the entertainment world. The Bromley-raised David Jones saw the adoption of a new stage name as an opportunity to redefine his faltering career and changed his name to David Bowie, after the American Colonel James Bowie, Davy Crockett's sidekick in The Alamo. Pitt and Bowie soon paired up, and it became apparent the Bowie desired to become the "renaissance man of pop". Bowie's aspirations were to sing and dance; he wanted to be seen as an artiste rather than someone who had only just recently shed his rough and ready R&B skin."
